Catastrophes

6/25/2019 - 3 min read

Constant innovation keeps insurers ahead of wildfire risk

Assessing wildfire risk to properties takes deep, diverse data, plus sophisticated analytics and scientific methods in an ecosystem of constant innovation.

6/4/2019 - 1 min read

June 2019 preview: Historical catastrophe activity

June marks the official start of the Atlantic hurricane season (June 1 – November 30). According to forecasters, 2019 will be a slightly below-average season for the area that covers the Atlantic Ocean, Gulf of Mexico, and Caribbean Sea.

Landsat Image Of The Chuckegg Creek Fire

5/31/2019 - 1 min read

Winds steer Alberta’s Chuckegg Creek Fire away from town

FireLine, Verisk’s wildfire risk management tool, is guiding analysis of risk factors within the perimeter of the Chuckegg Creek Fire in Alberta, Canada.

5/14/2019 - 4 min read

Fighting wildfire with fire and fuel reduction

Wildfires need three things—conducive weather, a source of ignition, and a supply of fuel.

5/8/2019 - 4 min read

Growing wildfire exposure feeds need to grasp risk factors

A record 2018 wildfire season in California, with signals suggesting more of the same to come, is driving insurers to seek better risk assessment tools.

5/6/2019 - 1 min read

May 2019 preview: Historical Catastrophe Activity

May is normally an active month for catastrophes and leads up to the beginning of the hurricane season, which runs from June 1 to November 30 in the Atlantic basin and from May 15 to November 30 in the Eastern Pacific.

4/2/2019 - 1 min read

April 2019 preview: Historical catastrophe activity

Historically, April is an active month for violent tornadoes. There have been more violent tornadoes—EF4 and EF5—in April than any other month from 1950 through 2013. And just last year, there were 146 tornado reports for the month.

3/8/2019 - 2 min read

AER and team demonstrate benefits of using machine learning in subseasonal-to-seasonal forecasting

A team from Verisk's Atmospheric and Environmental Research (AER), Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Microsoft Research, and Stanford University published an opinion article in WIREs Climate Change on the benefits of applying machine learning to the practice of subseasonal-to-seasonal (S2S) weather prediction.

The most active March in the past ten years was in 2016, when PCS designated seven catastrophes, all wind and thunderstorm events

3/5/2019 - 1 min read

March 2019 preview: Historical catastrophe activity

Spring arrives in the Northern Hemisphere on March 20, but winter storms and other severe weather may still occur this month.

2/11/2019 - 3 min read

California wildfire destruction aligns with identified risks

Property destruction from the November 2018 Camp and Woolsey Fires in California shows a strong correlation with areas identified as at risk by FireLine®, Verisk’s wildfire risk management tool.

2/5/2019 - 2 min read

Disruption of the polar vortex creates winter whiplash

A warming climate is producing warm extremes in all seasons, and in sharp contrast to the historical cold at the end of January, the first full week of February ushered in unseasonably warm weather. Blame it on the splitting of the polar vortex.

Ca18076 Visualized 533x355 2019 0112 Va2

2/4/2019 - 1 min read

February 2019 preview: Historical catastrophe activity

While winter storms are common in February, there are other catastrophe risks that historically have made an impact during the month.

1/29/2019 - 2 min read

P/C insurers report $4.7B net underwriting gain in nine-months 2018

The insurance industry performed well in nine-months 2018, helped by continued growth in premiums and investment income, according to an analysis by Verisk's ISO and the American Property Casualty Insurance Association (APCI).

12/5/2018 - 1 min read

December 2018 preview: Historical catastrophe activity

As the Atlantic hurricane season comes to an end, we look to December and examine historical catastrophe trends for the month.

Camp Fire 11 08 18 Landsat Brighter Closeup

11/13/2018 - 2 min read

Raging California wildfires burn thousands of properties

Wildfires in California surpassed 215,000 acres burned as of November 12, destroying thousands of structures, forcing mass evacuations, and reportedly causing 43 fatalities.